Bishop - Barker search comes up empty

Inyo County Sheriff Bill Lutze addresses the media during this week’s excavation of “likely burial sites” of potential Manson family victims at the group’s former Death Valley hideout. An international media frenzy ensued in the wake of reported “credible evidence” bodies indicating were buried at the Barker Ranch. Photo by Ken Koerner

5-24-2008

In terms of “leaving no stone unturned,” no group has ever been more deserving of that characterization than the scientific and law enforcement team that descended upon the Barker Ranch this week seeking any possible clue of undiscovered graves.
Following months of scientific evaluation of soil samples, the use of ground-penetrating radar and even lasers that cause bones to glow in the dark – not to mention several highly-publicized searches by a dog trained to detect the presence of human remains – the long-rumored existence of murder victims at Barker Ranch may now have been laid to rest.

“Initially, we took a hard look at what some of the search dogs were indicating as potential sites. Based upon that, we then employed some minimally-intrusive scientific measures around those sites to learn what those tests could tell us,” Inyo County Sheriff Bill Lutze said. “Ultimately, the science was producing inconclusive results; but there were sufficient markers (scientific elements reflective of human decomposition) suggesting a rather high-probability for remains, so we did what we needed to do – dig at the most promising locations.”
Based upon a confluence of indicators pointing toward the greatest likelihood of a buried body, five sites were selected for excavation.

Inyo County Sheriff Bill Lutze (r) and Inyo County Sergeant Jeff Hollowell confer alongside a “hot spot” excavated during an unprecedented approach to forensic investigation for possible grave sites at Death Valley’s Barker Ranch. Photo by Ken Koerner

Four of the targeted locations produced no evidence of decades-old graves being located there. One locale did produce evidence it may have been used by ancestral Native Americans when cooking. In excavating that spot, the scientists and Inyo County Sheriff’s Department (ICSD) investigators discovered traces of ash and burned wood, some rabbit bones and stone flakes/chips that are consistent with making arrowheads.
The National Park Service, since the Barker Ranch is now within the Death Valley National Park, and a liaison from the indigenous Timbisha-Shoshone Indian Tribe made arrangements to secure that location for further archeological examination and potential preservation. This was the only dig site that produced any bones – though they were clearly those of a hare, not a human.
Forensic scientists from the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) in Tennessee had returned to Barker Ranch this week, following their exploration earlier this year, anxious to seek confirmation that their extensive scientific evaluations would lead to buried bodies. What they found instead was a sense their detection technology needs some more fine-tuning, especially amid the landscape of Inyo County’s desert mountains.
“Obviously, the technology needs a lot of improvement – it’s just not ‘smart enough yet’ to be able to better distinguish among some of the possible indicators that were being recorded,” ORNL scientist Arpad Vass said. “Also, this environment is considerably different than what we would find, for instance, in the eastern portion of the United States. There is plant life here that emanate ‘triggers’ consistent with some of those associated with human decomposition – and even the rocks around here possess some magnetic fields of their own, which could account for some of the disparity in what the tests results suggested and what we found – or failed to find – during these excavations. I have to admit, I am very disappointed.”
Though searching for bodies is what brought this operation into being, the fact that a body was not found, Lutze explained, is a very positive outcome, one of several from this formidable effort.
“It’s a good thing that there weren’t bodies to be found. I think we’re all glad not to have more victims having been murdered by the Manson clan,” said Lutze, “Also, the technology that we’ve become acquainted with and the scientists with whom we’ve been working could prove to be a great resource for our department going forward.”
Being a rather small department, Lutze explained, means having to call upon outside resources at times; adding, that’s the case for many agencies around the country.
“We’ve already had a number of other agencies getting in touch with us (ICSD) about the forensic work that we’ve been doing on this case,” said Lutze, “wanting to learn more about what technologies we’ve been using, who the people are that are knowledgeable users of that equipment and how what Inyo County’s has been doing might benefit their own department’s crime scene investigators.”
Without question, some of what has been happening with the ICSD and those consulting scientists is breaking new ground.
“Last night (May 20) for the first time I’ve ever known of, a scientist and a law enforcement officer climbed into a ‘grave’ together and used a laser to look for bones,” Utah Attorney General Forensic Consultant Charles Illsley said. “Inyo County Sheriff’s Department is the first agency in the country to use this technology for grave excavation investigation. I can tell you based upon the effort, the time and the technology committed here, that they (ICSD) have done more than any other agency in investigating this site for potential graves.”
There is another benefit that has resulted from this effort, according to Lutze.
“This is all cutting-edge forensic investigation,” Lutze said, “and it’s been great for our department staff to be exposed, in a real-world setting, to be able to learn how best to utilize these investigative tools in future cases.”
Upside benefits notwithstanding, that sense of disappointment was not limited to the scientist whose equipment was something less than fool-proof in the Barker Ranch exploration.
“Well, I’m certainly disappointed that no bodies were found here. On a couple of these sites I thought for sure we’d dig up a body,” Mammoth Lakes Police Department Sergeant Paul Dostie said. “But we’ve done everything we can do to determine if there were bodies – so, unless someone credible comes forward as an eye-witness to a Barker Ranch murder, I don’t think there’s anymore to be done.”
Dostie was instrumental in bringing early attention to the former Manson hideout, thanks to his visits to the ranch with his cadaver search dog, Buster. Dostie also had invited a media presence during his search efforts. Debra Tate, sister of Manson clan murder victim Sharon Tate, also visited the site while Buster and Dostie searched the grounds on a past visit.
There was even some disappointment evident among media that had traveled to the remote desert outpost, when no bodies were found in any of the “Buster sites.”
A reporter for a local TV station had purchased a bottle of champagne ahead of the excavation getting under way, for the expressed purpose of “celebrating Buster’s success.” No word on whether that bottle of bubbly was subsequently popped.
Faced with the most “promising locations” having produced no evidence of buried victims, Lutze called a halt to the digging and scientists, ICSD officers, National Park authorities and members of the media all began to pack up their gear and prepare for the long drive (and flights) back home.
One Inyo County resident that has an especially unique perspective on all-things-Barker Ranch-Manson-related is retired California Highway Patrol Sergeant Jim Pursell.
It was Pursell who stood inside the Barker Ranch house back in October, 1969 and coaxed Manson out from the cupboard in which the diminutive criminal was hiding. Pursell was among the primary investigative team that arrested Manson and some two dozen of his followers in Goler Wash. Pursell was also summoned to testify in the Manson family murder trial in Los Angeles on eight separate occasions, due to his extensive, first-hand knowledge about the case.
In a letter to The Inyo Register (Feb. 9, 2008), Pursell was adamant in his belief that no bodies were buried at the ranch, including within his letter the investigative details that led him – and all the others assigned to examine the details of that case – to this conclusion. Additionally, in a related conversation with the paper’s editor, Pursell was not shy about his evaluation of how the “media has been played like a fiddle” during the well-publicized searches for possible graves at Barker Ranch – publicity that in part may have led to the excavations taking place. Despite his reservations about the proceedings ahead of the formal ICSD investigative effort in Death Valley this week, Pursell was effusive in his praise for Lutze.
“I can’t say enough good things about how appropriately and effectively Sheriff Bill Lutze has handled this situation,” Pursell said. “The sheriff did an excellent job in all this and really did the citizens of Inyo County a good deed at every twist and turn.”
It deserves noting that while the excavation/investigation has now wound down, there could be another area associated with the earlier searches at Barker Ranch that is still to come under scrutiny.
The National Park Service is bound by federal laws and regulations to ensure the use and management of national park lands is always in adherence with those requirements. There’s reason to believe, according to Death Valley National Park (DVNP) Acting Chief Ranger Aaron Shandor, there were questionable choices made in regards to park service guidelines.
“I support Sheriff Lutze doing this excavation – we certainly don’t want people coming out here on their own removing materials and digging on park land, so we are glad this has been undertaken,” Shandor said. “They (the ICSD) did everything properly, including obtaining a permit from the NPS – something that was never pursued by any other parties that have been out here conducting searches on their own and collecting soil samples that were then sent to labs for analysis. Those types of actions are entirely inappropriate – and potentially illegal.”
In past months the NPS and the Bureau of Land Management were unaware of the continuing investigation by private parties until receiving a report from Dostie documenting his actions. That isn’t something that will be allowed to continue, the ranger indicated.
“From the National Park Service side, once this dig is over and the Inyo County Sheriff’s Department terminates this investigation,” said Shandor, “at that time the NPS will issue no further permits for disturbance of park lands – unless we’ve participated in all of the evaluative studies of why it should take place and concur with the purpose and the nature of such activities.”
Shandor explained that prior to this permitted excavation at Barker Ranch, DVNP “spent a considerable amount of money in connection with non-permitted” activity at the Goler Wash ranch site.
“A running tab of DVNP costs has been kept,” Shandor said, “and the NPS is looking into the details of what has transpired at Barker Ranch to better determine what further course of action may be appropriate.”
Perhaps the saga of searching for graves at Barker Ranch has another element still to be investigated, though it will apparently not require shovels and scientists to sift through these related details.